If you had told Spurs fans that the North London club would finish 2017 in 5th place, 3 points above Burnley and 21 points off the league leaders, you would have been called crazy.

An apt way to describe Tottenham’s form this season would be ‘patchy’. From defeating giants of European football like Real Madrid, to tying against teams in the relegation zone, the Lilywhites have struggled to find consistency across domestic and continental fixtures. Much of this patchy form can be attributed to injuries – those of Toby Alderweireld and Victor Wanyama fundamentally alter Spurs’ style of play for the worst.

With that said, successful transfers, players progressing in ability and others coming back from injury have all been amazing parts of the season. Davinson Sanchez has slotted in excellently, proving to be a phenomenal acquisition given the injury that Alderweireld is yet to recover from. Harry Winks’ massive performances have made him the modern iteration of the youth revolution at Spurs but with Sissoko, Pochettino has shown that he can improve and motivate older players as well. The Frenchman is still one of the team’s more technically limited players but he has become a solid option off the bench.

To top it all off, Erik Lamela – a castaway turned fan favorite – has returned from almost a year of sitting on the sidelines. He’s a much needed attacking option and still exhibits a certain fire, a hunger, for the ball.

Lamela’s return could not be timed better, as Spurs still struggle to break down teams that look to stifle attacks in the defensive third by packing the middle and marking the likes of Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, and Harry Kane. The latter is in the form of his life, but it’s clear that both Dele and Eriksen fade in and out of matches too often.

Being the prime conductors of our creative force, Tottenham’s play suffers greatly when one or both of them have an off-game. The very fact that Eriksen is our only true #10 (an argument can be made for Lamela, but I’d argue the Argentinian is more like Son than the Danish maestro) is worrying within of itself.

Halfway through the season now, Pochettino and Levy might be tempted to turn to the January transfer window in order to bring in some needed reinforcements.

With new additions in Sanchez and Serge Aurier, and promising academy products like Kyle Walker-Peters, Tottenham’s backline will see us through the end of the season at the very least. If Pochettino looks to bolster the team, he’ll focus in the midfield and a creative player that can take some of the burden off Eriksen’s shoulders.

It’s telling that Dembele can hardly play more than 60 minutes in a match, and yet he is so massively talented that he remains an important gear in the Spurs machine. As mentioned earlier, Harry Winks has really stepped up his performances this season – but having a developing player and an injury prone player as your only solid rotation options in the midfield isn’t ideal. Sissoko has been deployed there on occasion and although he boosts the middle of the pitch with pure physical power, he lacks the technical ability to properly bridge the gap between the middle and attacking third.

Interestingly, Spurs haven’t been linked to many midfielders as of late, so it’s possible that Pochettino & Co. don’t see an issue with depth in that position. Still, if one of Dembele or Winks is sidelined for a substantial amount of time, it would severely dent the chances of having a successful season. With the absence of Wanyama, we’ve seen how much our defense suffers when our chief shield bearer is unavailable. I believe we’d see our attack suffer in a similar way if Winks or Dembele is injured.

The question is – who would come in that could bolster our depth? The time might be right to bring back Josh Onomah from his loan at Aston Villa. Having chalked up 19 appearances and 4 goals so far, he’s had a great loan spell with the Villains.

But player movement, even something as relatively simple as recalling a player from a loan, can have unintended consequences. For one, Steve Bruce, the Villa manager, has deployed him as an attacking mid rather than an engine in the middle of the pitch. So it’s completely possible that he’s not suited to running a midfield in the top flight yet. Although he’s shown capability in tracking back and intense energy levels, changing positions and receiving more responsibility requires a change of mindset. Which leads me to my second point – pulling him out of the squad he’s been working with for 5 months now, with inherently different aspirations and chemistry, to drop him in the middle of a season where Spurs are desperate for silverware might be jarring.

From his performances, Onomah would provide a solid rotation option in the midfield, but I wonder if the move might do more to hinder him rather than keep him moving along in his career.

Of course, since Bruce has given him more starts in an offensive role, it’s tempting to think that he can be the player that can lighten Eriksen’s load. I don’t think that’s the case – we, frankly, need someone who can provide more than what Onomah can give now. Someone who isn’t just a player that comes on in the 70th minute so Eriksen can rest, but a player who actually pushes for that starting eleven spot.

Recent rumors involve the likes of Everton’s Ross Barkley and Bordeaux’s exciting Brazilian attacker, Malcom. Barkley seems the more likely of the two but, having not played a single minute of football and just returning from an injury, it seems like more of a gamble than is necessary. With Chelsea getting into the mix as well, Pochettino has a bit of a time crunch to make a decision.

Admittedly, Malcom is the more exciting prospect of the two, and I believe he can rapidly develop into a proper player at Spurs. More on this on my next post, where I’ll dive into what he can bring to Spurs.

These two gaps in depth are there for all to see – but the crux of the issue comes down to whether Spurs should do anything at all in the transfer window. Lack of competition for Eriksen and threadbare numbers in the midfield are pressing concerns, but are they so pressing that Pochettino simply must acquire new players in January?

I think the answer is no.

For one, players that hit the ground running after a January transfer are rare. A change of scenery, new colleagues, new system with new rules, and (potentially) a move to a different country, with a different language, with different customs all contribute to how rapidly a player can acclimatize to the new club. Pochettino’s system is also notorious for placing great importance on pre-season. Luckily, we’ve been blessed with the likes of Sanchez and Aurier stepping in almost seamlessly, but for the most part it takes players a substantial amount of time to become contributors to the team.

Purchasing what would no doubt be an expensive player in the middle of the season without pre-season preparation would be a disservice to the player and potentially to the club.

Depth is needed – there’s no argument there. But the smart play would be to consolidate the current team and identify realistic targets for the summer.